This
is the flag of the South Malaku Republic, which was a part of
the Republic Negara Indonesia Timor under which it had secured
the right to leave (become independent). Although this right was
maintained at the infamous Hague Round Table Conference in 1949
which saw the combination of the Republic Negara Indonesia Timor
and the Jakarta based Republik Indonesia as a federation, the
South Moluccas exercised this right and declared independence
on April 25, 1950 when they realized what Sukarno's ultimate plans
were. Indonesian federal troops then invaded South Malaku to forcefully
incorporate it into Indonesia.

This flag is regularly burned in government organized street
protests in Jakarta to try and show the world there is popular
support for Jakarta's position. If you are not a government flag
burner and are caught with the South Malaku flag you will face
criminal charges of treason and up to 20 years of prison and torture
even though it is your right under International law to both express
yourself and seek self-determination through peaceful means.

Some facts about South Malaku Republic / the South Moluccas Islands.;

1) The right to independence was incorporated in (article 2b
& c and article 189) of the constitution of the Republic Negara
Indonesia Timor, which right was recognized and guaranteed in
the Round Table Conference at the Hague in 1949 when the Republic
Negara Indonesia Timor joined the Republik Indonesia under as
a federation of two republics.

2) West Malaku exercised its legal right to independence in 1950
with a declaration recognized as properly, constitutionally and
legally made by the United Nations' regional observers.

3) Sukarno immediately launched an invasion against this sovereign
state, then The Republik Maluku Selatan.

4) The legitimate government of the South Moluccas fled to The
Netherlands with 12,000 Moluccan soldiers and their families in
1950 / 1951 and established a government in exile. Unfortunately
frustration seems to have gotten the better of the "RMS"
(Republik Maluku Selatan) and factions of it committed "terror"
attacks for example in 1978, when one RMS group took 70 civilians
hostage inside a Dutch government building in Assen, Holland /
The Netherlands after which the Dutch Government withdrew their
support for the organization.

5) The South Moluccas is or rather was predominantly Christian
but what many describe as deliberate attempts to change this through
"encouraged" Muslim Indonesian migration to the region
may have changed this.

6) Although the RMS lost its legitimacy in the Netherland, the
right for the people of the South Moluccas Islands to achieve
independence was not lost with it. International human rights
groups and other NGO's still actively campaign and lobby the UN.

7) The RMS cause is currently mainly promoted by the Front Kedaulatan
Maluku, whose leaders Alex Manuputty and Semmy Waileruny were
tried unlawfully in absentia for treason (being separatists and
waving the RMS flag as is their legal right under international
law). Alex Manuputty now lives in the USA campaigning for recognition
for their cause while the Indonesian authorities try to coerce
the US State department into deporting him, an act many say would
result in his death.

8) The Republic of Indonesia would have the world believe that
the independence movement in Maluku is dead but this is false,
it is still very active. If foreign tourists, aid workers or human
rights observers try to travel to most if not all of Malaku they
are told there are safety concerns because of inter-tribal clashes;
nonsense, it is because independence is still being fought for
and also Jakarta does not want people to see the human rights
abuse (murder, rape, burning, etc.) going on there by their security
forces.

9) In 2007 the Indonesian Government blocked independence and
autonomy favoring governor nominees from registering with the
result of massive protests and riots which have been put down
bloodily by the Indonesian military.

For details of International efforts to help Maluku become independent,
see: Republik
Maluku.

For what is left of the RMS after The Netherlands withdrew support
for the organization, visit: RMS